Food Review: Safeway Select Mushroom and Onions Tomato Sauce

Why, oh why would I put myself out on a limb for store brand tomato sauce in a jar, especially since I have been known, from time to time, to make some pretty decent sauces from scratch. First off, because I’m lazy, so I actually use canned and jarred sauces fairly often, and second, because this fairly straightforward product is surprisingly good, and I feel like quality should be acknowledged, wherever it can be found.

This sauce is simple. The ingredients are tomato puree, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, mushrooms, water, onions, EVOO, salt, and spices. Note the lack of high fructose corn syrup, or in fact any added sugars. I do wish they would call out the spices, because I’ve been reading how some spices are good for your health, plus the flavor is really actually quite nice, which just a touch of heat.

Still, this is a surprisingly good sauce, and while not the cheapest (in my store, a canned 24 oz sauce is $.99-$1.49, cheap Ragu is around $1.99, Newman’s is $3.89 – $4.99), at about $2.49 it’s still a decent value. Sure, I could probably make my own for less, but then I’d have to do all of that work, and I don’t always have the time.

Eliot has been orbiting show business for over 20 years as an improv comedian, video director, and general guy you might barely recognize. Currently best known for his work on the comedy podcast Never Not Funny: The Jimmy Pardo Podcast. He wrote previously for MacEdition.com, and is working on a collection of short sci-fi and weird tales that will probably be published someday. He is also one of three principals in Modest Games.

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